In an interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, the Karnataka Lokayukta makes it clear that he would not make life miserable for the Bharatiya Janata Party just because the Congress wants him to do it.
Besides Mukherjee and Deora, the EGoM would have power minister Sushilkumar Shinde, fertiliser minister M K Alagiri, law minister Veerappa Moily and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia.
"Mercy petition filed by Tabassum, wife of the Parliament House attack convict Afzal Guru, should be rejected. Nature of the crime committed is heinous and he deserves no mercy," a ministry note said. Guru was awarded the death sentence by a Delhi court on December 18, 2002 after being convicted of conspiracy to attack Parliament on December 13, 2001, waging war against the country and murder.
As the country observes the second anniversary of the 26/11 attacks, Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily on Friday said the trial in the case was "fair" and completed in the "quickest possible time."
The government said on Wednesday that it would aim at preventing a repeat of Bhopal gas leak case, a verdict on which a storm is raging on the light punishment given to those convicted.
The Centre on Monday said it has no role to play in the issue of impeachment process of Karnataka high court chief justice P D Dinakaran except notifying the committee constituted by the Rajya Sabha Chairman.
A day after Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan pointed at delays in granting sanction to prosecute corrupt government officials, Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily on Sunday said there was a need to "revisit" constitutional provisions giving protection to civil servants.
A day after social activist Anna Hazare launched his fast-unto-death on the Lokpal Bill issue, government on Wednesday said it was open to any suggestion on the proposed legislation and had not turned down his demand for a joint committee.
In the eye of a storm ever since he defied the high command, Congress MP Y S Jaganmohan Reddy on Tuesday claimed the party has given the "go-ahead" to him to continue with his tour of Telangana region and that all issues have been sorted out.
Rights activist Binayak Sen, released on bail while serving a life sentence for sedition and links with Maoists, on Monday night asserted he is not a 'traitor' and said the Supreme Court observation in his case will have 'deep political implication.'
The appointment of a new chief information commissioner has been deferred as the scheduled meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Leader of Opposition L K Advani has been postponed. Official sources said the meeting of the three-member committee comprising the Prime Minister, Advani and Law Minister Veerappa Moily has been postponed without citing any reasons and no new date has been given.
Civil society members of the joint committee on Lokpal will seek a referendum on the points of difference with government representatives including the issue of bringing the prime minister and the higher judiciary under the ambit of the anti-graft ombudsman.
In the wake of "public sentiment" in the Aarushi Talwar murder case, the Law Ministry has asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to have a fresh look at the closure report in the teenager's death probe, Law Minister M Veerappa Moily said on Sunday.
India has insisted that US must provide a direct access to its investigators to interrogate Pakistani-American David Headley, who has confessed to plotting the Mumbai terror attacks.
The Telangana issue assumed centre stage on Thursday night as Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily held consultations with Congress members of Legislative Assembly and members of Parliament. Though a lot of hope was pinned by the Telangana leaders on this meeting there was absolutely no decision taken on issue of statehood, say insiders. However, the mass resignation programme by these elected representatives will be put on hold till the assembly elections in five states.
For the past one-and-a-half months, railway minister Mamata Banerjee has stopped her informal interactions with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee after a sharp exchange on telephone over a municipal election issue.
As the Delhi High Court legalised gay sex among consenting adults in a path-breaking judgment on Thursday, the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government reacted cautiously by stating that it will have to examine the judgment in detail before taking any decisions. "We need to examine the details of the judgment. Let me examine it," Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily told reporters in New Delhi.
It is pertinent to mention that the ministry of defence had agreed to vacate the spectrum only during middle of this year.
Union Home Secretary G K PIllai has said Hyderabad will be the capital of Telangana. MPs from the non-Telangana areas will meet Home Minister P Chidambaram and Law Minister Veerappa Moily.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Leader of Opposition L K Advani and Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily on Friday to decide on the new Chief Information Commissioner but the meeting remained "inconclusive".
'Can governments which consistently let their lawyers down, be trusted to uphold the rights of their people? How much longer will the State fight against its own citizens, inside and outside court?' asks activist Nandini Sundar.
Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi is expected to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday, raising hopes of an alliance between the two parties in the forthcoming Rajya Sabha polls in Andhra Pradesh.
Faced with strident opposition from the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal over the Women's Reservation Bill, the government on Monday said it does not want to 'bulldoze' the Constitutional amendment and would favour a 'healthy debate' before going ahead with it. After a day of high drama in the Rajya Sabha, where the bill was moved for consideration, Law Minister Veerappa Moily slammed the Opposition parties for the way they protested against it.
Apparently embarrassed by the resignation of two party Members of Legislative Assembly from Telangana to protest the Terms of Reference of the Sri Krishna committee, the Congress high command has summoned the two legislators to Delhi for talks.R Damodar Reddy and Ch Mutyam Reddy left for the national capital on Tuesday to hold talks with Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily, in-charge of party affairs in Andhra Pradesh, and other leaders.
In the aftermath of the announcement to form a separate state of Telangana, the Congress party is now facing new problems.
The government on Tuesday said it has accepted all the recommendations made by the Liberhan Commission in the backdrop of the Babri Masjid demolition and 'positive action' would be taken on them.
The meeting, which will take place almost a month after incumbent CIC Wajahat Habibullah resigned, is being looked forward to by RTI activists who have been demanding transparency in the selection process and pressing for the appointment of a non-bureaucrat to the post.
The government hailed the consensus among major political parties on the Women's Reservation Bill on Sunday and said no single party could claim credit for it.
Amid a grouping of political parties from Telangana stepping up its campaign for a separate state, Centre today said it had no plans to set up a second States Reorganisation Commission and ruled out imposition of President's rule in the state.
The lawyers of Gujarat high court are all set to go on a strike if Union Law Minister Veerappa Moily doesn't pay attention to the issue of 35 per cent posts of judges lying vacant in the HC. In Gujarat, due to various administrative reasons and probably due to political tension between the Centre and the state, new appointments have not been made since many years. The situation has now reached crisis proportions as an increasing backlog of cases is piling up.
Union Law and Justice Minister M Veerappa Moily on Thursday welcomed the move of the Supreme Court judges to make public the details of their assets. "If they have come forward to disclose it, it is welcome," he said.
With Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi appearing before the Special Investigation Team in connection with a 2002 riots case, the Centre on Saturday said it was 'unfortunate' that a chief minister has 'landed' himself in such a situation.
A reshuffle in the Union Council of Ministers is scheduled for Tuesday evening at Rashtrapati Bhavan. The swearing-in has been fixed for 5 pm. Trinamool Congress' Dinesh Trivedi is likely to get the railways portfolio. The portfolios of a number of ministers are likely to be changed, including civil aviation, currently with Vayalar Ravi, and law, which is with Veerappa Moily. Minister Beni Prasad Verma from Uttar Pradesh is likely to be promoted to the Cabinet rank.
The three-member panel of Law Minister M Veerappa Moily, Home Minister P Chidambaram and Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad met in New Delhi on Tuesday evening and "critically analysed" the pros and cons of the Delhi High Court judgement legalising gay sex.
Reacting to Kerala government's plans to file a case against the MP for his anti-judiciary statement, Moily said: "You cannot pass remarks that will bring the institution to disrepute".
There is no question of banning the Bajrang Dal if it plays by the rulebook and behaves itself, senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily said on Friday, as his party's manifesto proposing to outlaw the outfit continues to come under fire from the Bharatiya Janata Party.
He says current arrangement is working fine.
Union Law Minister M Veerappa Moily on Saturday charged the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Karnataka with "building a chain of corruption" and appointing commissions to "cover" it up and get "clean chits".
Hinting that the government's options were open on the new law, Dr Singh said, "We have not reached a conclusion yet. I have asked a group of officials to study the administrative reforms commission report and then we will decide."
Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee had a brief meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on salient features of the Budget.